Sudan Promotes Darfur Atrocities
Suspect
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU – 22 hours ago
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — The suspected head of a Sudanese militia accused of
murder, rape and other atrocities in Darfur has received a senior government post, the
Sudanese government confirmed Monday. President Omar al-Bashir dismissed
allegations against the man as untrue.
Musa Hilal, the alleged leader of the so-called janjaweed militias, was named adviser to
Sudan's Ministry of Federal Affairs last week, Sudanese media reported Monday. The
ministry manages the central government's relations with the outlying provinces in
Africa's largest country.
"He is an influential figure in Darfur. His leadership has contributed to stability and
security," al-Bashir said during a visit to Turkey. "We think the accusations against him
are untrue."
Hilal is the leader of the Mahamid, a clan belonging to the powerful Rezeigat tribe of
nomad Arabs in Darfur. He is accused of having led the proxy militia raised by the Arabdominated government in Khartoum to fight Darfur's ethnic African rebels.
Over 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million been chased to refugee camps since the
fighting began in 2003 — most of them ethnic Africans.
The U.N. Security Council imposed travel and financial sanctions against Hilal and three
others in April 2006 for his alleged role in what President Bush has called a "genocide."
Hilal has denied any wrongdoing, stating in a 2004 video interview with New York-based
Human Rights Watch that he always acted on orders and under control of the Sudanese
government.
Federal Affairs Minister Abdelbasit Sabderat told The Associated Press by telephone that
Hilal would be "handling tribal affairs throughout the Sudan," adding that Darfur would
not be the adviser's only focus.
The Sudanese government denies it arms or employs the janjaweed, stating they are
uncontrolled tribal militias prone to banditry, while the tribal fighters incorporated into
uniformed paramilitary groups, which do much of the government's fighting in Darfur,
are regular troops and not janjaweed.
But in February 2007, the International Criminal Court in The Hague charged Cabinet
Minister Ahmed Haroun and a suspected janjaweed leader known as Ali Kushayb with
51 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, including the murder,
rape, torture and persecution of civilians.
The ICC alleges Haroun coordinated government efforts to arm and fund the janjaweed,
and that Kushayb led militias in southern Darfur.
Sudan, which is not a party to the ICC, has refused to hand over the suspects. Haroun
remains in office as minister of Humanitarian Affairs — where he oversees humanitarian
relief for Darfur's victims — and Kushayb is in hiding under government protection.
The ICC has declined to comment on whether it intends to charge Hilal.
"Musa Hilal is the poster child for janjaweed atrocities in Darfur," said Richard Dicker of
Human Rights Watch. Naming him to a senior government position is a new "slap in the
face to Darfur victims and to the UN Security Council," the group said in a statement.
Many Darfur Arab tribes have begun to fall out with the government or to fight among
themselves for booty. Some Sudanese observers see Hilal's appointment as a way to
prevent further bloodshed and steer the nomads away from an open rebellion.
"This appointment comes out of political and tribal consideration," said Tayeb Khamis, a
spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement, a former Darfur rebel faction whose
leader has signed a peace deal with the government. "The government is trying to strike a
balance, and Hilal is an outstanding figure in North Darfur, regardless of what the ICC or
others have on him," he said.
Associated Press writers Mohamed Osman in Khartoum and Suzan Fraser in Ankara,
Turkey, contributed to this report.